Flooding forces closure of roads, bridges in The County

National Weather Service | BDN

National Weather Service | BDN

Five days of rain in Aroostook County has damaged roads in several areas, including the Patten area, where 12 inches of rain has fallen as of Wednesday, June 27, 2012. Roads and bridges in Houlton, Bridgewater and Crouseville were flooded or closed Wednesday due to rain.

CARIBOU, Maine — Roads were closed and additional flooding was reported Wednesday as heavy rain that began Sunday continued to fall throughout the day.

While the rain lessened a bit in southern Aroostook County just before 4:30 p.m., it soon increased in intensity. Showers and patchy fog were forecast for the rest of the evening and into Thursday, according to the National Weather Service in Caribou.

Flood watches and warnings that had been issued for much of the state since Monday were lifted in several areas by late Wednesday afternoon. But southern Aroostook remained under a flood watch and a flood warning continued for Penobscot County on Wednesday evening.

The weather service also issued a flood warning specific to the Mattawamkeag River at Mattawamkeag, where the water level shortly before noon Wednesday was 12.9 feet. The forecast called for the river to rise above the flood stage of 13.5 feet sometime Thursday and to peak at near 13.8 feet by early Friday morning. The river’s rise is expected to cause flooding of Bancroft Road from Wytopitlock to Danforth, according to the weather service.

Meanwhile, rain still is predicted to fall off and on in The County throughout much of the rest of the week.

More than a foot of rain fell on Patten over the past four days, according to the weather service. Houlton picked up almost 9 inches of rainfall, while Knowles Corner recorded more than 7 inches.

In Sebec in Piscataquis County, almost 8 inches had been recorded by Wednesday evening.

Police departments across Aroostook County and officials with the Maine Department of Transportation closed several roads and bridges that were unsafe for travel because of flooding damage or high water.

In Houlton, U.S. Route 2 from Mooers Road to French Road was closed Wednesday afternoon because of high water. Flooding also was reported on Route 164 in Crouseville and the Tannery Bridge in Bridgewater had to be closed because of high water.